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This is the most expensive perfume I have ever owned and it was bought by my ex partner a few years ago. He worked for virgin Atlantic so I often got perfume that he managed to buy cheaper on his travels. It was probably the last perfume he ever got to buy me sadly, as it was a very nice perfume but I would never pay this much for it. I am, however, more than happy to receive it as a gift. What I like most about it is the bottle, it is so different and special but the scent really sells itself. It is complex and rich and the sort of fragrance that stays in the room, even after you leave. My ex partner who paid for this, managed to pick it himself, I had not asked for it nor had I even come across the scent before. I think it was a bit of a fluke on his part, yet I was pleased to have my first introduction to the perfume house.

==Price and availability==

This perfume costs around £110 and I personally find it too much to pay. This an exclusive perfume house and you will struggle to find even samples of the perfume. After the bottle ran out I was eager to try buying it cheaper on eBay or getting my hands on some samples. It was really hard to find and there are no samples around; you have to either buy it or live without it. I have chose to live without it; I like my perfumes and I could buy two for the price a bottle of this costs. I need a more generous boyfriend again. You can source this online or in department stores such as Harrods.

==Description and notes==

This fragrance was released in 2006 and created by perfumer Michel Almairac of Robertet. West Side was intended as an homage to the musical West Side and this is noted on the bottle as you can see how jazzy and fun it is. The bottle looks rather expensive, it is thick glass and it is bright. It has a lot of presence about it. You can get hold of the perfume in 50 ml or 100 ml and as usual you get better value for money by buying the larger bottle. The fragrance is rich, dark and heavy. It has power and mystique and it remind me of rich American business women; it is definitely a mature, robust fragrance for a woman who knows exactly what she wants. The notes include rose, ylang ylang, peony, sandalwood, amber, musk and vanilla. The dry down is a very soft blend of sandalwood, vanilla and musk, lightly sweet with amber tones.

I found the perfume really worked well with my skin and it did smell wonderful, very rich and the vanilla really carried the scent with the rose which I found the most powerful of the notes. There is a stark contrast in the notes, you get rich and deep woody notes that offset against short sharp floral notes of rose and peony. It is a complex scent that works well.

The negative points? This hardly lasted at all, it was all over within a couple of hours and you really had to apply this on a regular basis. The dry down is pleasant and once it has settled, it fades into a dullness. I was very bitter towards this perfume, it was one of those that could easily be your favourite but you cannot keep applying it so liberally. This has to be the main drawback for this perfume and a major flaw.

==The perfume house==

"Bond no. 9 was established in New York in 2003 by Laurice Rahme, who had previously worked for Annick Goutal and Creed.The line currently includes some 30+ fragrances, most of which are named after (and inspired by) New York City neighborhoods."

==Overall==

This perfume was the one that I always wanted to wear but I tended to be careful with it because I knew how expensive it was. I only wore it for nights out and dates and saved it for special occasions. Even with being careful about how I applied it, it still ran out quickly. The initial scent is so powerful but then after it dries it just faded to a whisper. It really is not worth the price; I will find a similar smelling perfume but it will last longer and it will be cheaper!